India's most active venture capital firm Sequoia is looking to raise around $800 million (approximately Rs 5,300 crore) for a new India-focused fund, separate media reports said citing sources. An independent industry insider confirmed the development to VCCircle but added the process has not yet been initiated.
This comes barely months after Sequoia topped its latest fund with $210 million to take the total corpus to $740 million. Last year it had announced that it has raised $530 million in its fourth India-focused fund to build on its venture and early growth investment activity in India.
Sequoia Capital did not reply to emails and calls from VCCircle. The VC firm is estimated to have about $2 billion as assets under management (AUM).
With the new proposed fund, it would not just extend the lead against other VC firms in terms of assets but possibly also trump IDFC Alternatives as the largest India-focused alternative investment firm in the country.
IL&FS Investment Managers, ICICI Venture and ChrysCapital among the top India-dedicated PE fund managers active in the country.
The firm has investments in ventures such as handset maker Micromax and restaurant listing venture that has just hit the $1 billion mark, Zomato, and remains a shareholder in Just Dial after selling some shares last year with stellar returns.
Its more recent investments include online branded aggregator of budget stays OYO Rooms, healthcare app Practo, hyper-local grocery delivery platforms Grofers and Peppertap besides furniture e-tailer UrbanLadder.
Sequoia has participated in at least 80 deals worth over $1.7 billion (including investments from co-investors) since the beginning of 2014, according to VCCEdge, a data and research platform for VCCircle.
Some of the other VC funds which raised new funds this year include Accel Partners, SAIF Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners.